News
Rare pattern observed in migrating common swifts
21 September 2020
Compared with other migratory birds, the common swift follows a very unusual pattern when it migrates from the breeding areas in Europe to its wintering locations south of the Sahara. This is what researchers have observed in a major eleven-year international study of the birds. Two researchers from the Faculty of Science share SEK 35 million from the European Research Council
4 September 2020
Colourful common wall lizards and an innovative X-ray microscope. Two researchers from the Faculty of Science have been granted five-year starting grants totalling EUR 3.5 million from the European Research Council. How stars form in the smallest galaxies
12 August 2020
The question of how small, dwarf galaxies have sustained the formation of new stars over the course of the Universe has long confounded the world’s astronomers. An international research team led by Lund University in Sweden has found that dormant small galaxies can slowly accumulate gas over many billions of years. When this gas suddenly collapses under its own weight, new stars are able to arise. Breakthrough method for predicting solar storms
11 August 2020
Extensive power outages and satellite blackouts that affect air travel and the internet are some of the potential consequences of massive solar storms. These storms are believed to be caused by the release of enormous amounts of stored magnetic energy due to changes in the magnetic field of the sun’s outer atmosphere - something that until now has eluded scientists’ direct measurement. Researchers believe this recent discovery could lead to better “space weather” forecasts in the future. Bird feeding helps females more than males
7 July 2020
A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that female birds benefit more from extra food in the winter. If females receive additional food, they do not need to reduce their body temperature as much as they would have otherwise, and the chances of surviving cold nights increase. Rising temperatures affect wetlands and disrupt the water balance
19 May 2020
In a future warmer climate, evaporation from the northern hemisphere’s wetlands will increase significantly more than previously thought. This is shown by an international study involving researchers from Lund University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. The new discovery provides important knowledge about how the world water balance will be affected in the future. New study on the brain’s water channels offers hope to those with brain and spinal cord damage
19 May 2020
An international research team has discovered a treatment that dramatically reduces swelling after brain and spinal cord damage. By using an already approved drug on rats, the brain’s water channels could be manipulated with positive results. The new study offers hope to the millions of people who are affected by brain and spinal cord damage. New discovery facilitates the hunt for methods to limit Alzheimer’s disease
7 May 2020
For the first time, an international research team has succeeded in quantifying the toxic oligomers that break down the nerve cells in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. The discovery could be crucial in the hunt for new methods to limit the rapidly growing dementia disease. Arctic wildlife uses extreme method to save energy
4 May 2020
The extreme cold, harsh environment and constant hunt for food means that Arctic animals have become specialists in saving energy. Now, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have discovered a previously unknown energy-saving method used by birds during the polar night. New study undermines ideas on the importance of the special quantum mechanical effects in photosynthesis
27 April 2020
The emergence and evolution of photosynthesis played a decisive role when life on earth began four billion years ago. In the past decade, some researchers have presented claims that quantum mechanical coherence plays an important role in this complex process. These ideas have now been critically evaluated in a study published in the scientific journal Science Advances. 